I mean a moat? Although it doesn't specifically talk about it, I cannot imagine that they haven't hardened their system against EMP. I used to think that debt will be an issue for anything short of a true TEOTWAWKI (ie nuclear attack, invasion, meteor strike, etc) but now I wonder if they will outlast even us preppers.

Expounding on Drang's post.....In an economic depression, like the Great Depression....debt DID matter....I have a funny feeling with the way records are kept now.....aside from the world being destroyed....debt will still matter...hahahah!

DEVELOPING: MasterCard is investigating a possible breach of cardholder account data involving a U.S.-based payment processor, the company said Friday.

"As a result, we have alerted payment card issuers regarding certain MasterCard accounts that are potentially at risk," the Purchase, N.Y., credit-card company said in a statement.

Law enforcement officials have been notified of the matter and an "independent data security organization" is conducting an ongoing forensic review. The U.S. Secret Service is investigating the breach, a spokesman said Friday.

I'm not impressed. Nine day fuel backup, and then the place goes dark. And an EMP attack probably means it stays dark until civilization is rebuilt.

Egg, my dad did lose his life savings in a Depression era bank crash. He was suspicious of banks ever afterwards. But the Great Depression was a deflationary depression. In those, debt matters. In a hyper-inflationary depression, you take a couple of silver dollars and pay off the mortgage on your house. In which case, debt matters, but only technically.

That's too bad about your Dad savings....that was a terrible thing...I don't blame him for not trusting the banks...and actually I STILL don't trust them now..hahahah.So help me out here...Ok, so in a hyperinflationary situation.....silver or gold will save you because it only goes up in value...but you would need more fiat style money (paper) to pay off the debt, because paper money will decrease in value....so it pays to have silver and gold...

Does this work the same way it works in a depressions style crisis?

How about this? Why don't you do a post on word defination for DUMMIES...you know....inflation, depression, hyperinflation....fiat money, gold silver...and the likes....give us a mini crash course here...

...the Great Depression was a deflationary depression. In those, debt matters. In a hyper-inflationary depression, you take a couple of silver dollars and pay off the mortgage on your house. In which case, debt matters, but only technically.

Either way the govt can still tax your property away from you. Given the current administration I could see an "Emergency Save the Bankers" tax on homeowners.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think a lot of people lost their property because of unpaid taxes during the Great Depression.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think a lot of people lost their property because of unpaid taxes during the Great Depression.

Moot point. If they couldn't pay their taxes, they most likely weren't paying their mortgages, either.

Inflation: When your dollar buys less and less. Hyperinflation: a runaway inflation. You could end up paying a billion dollars for a loaf of bread. Money essentially becomes worthless.

In a hyper inflation, debts made before the inflation essentially disappear - you pay them off with worthless money.

Deflation: Your money buys more and more. Cash becomes more valuable - and harder to come by. The debts you owe become harder and harder to pay, because money is disappearing. You lose your job and your salary, that's deflationary. Then you can't pay your debts.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think a lot of people lost their property because of unpaid taxes during the Great Depression.

Both. My grandpa lost the farm in Minnesota because he wasn't able to pay the property tax. Last time I checked - about 20 some years ago - the state still owned the property. No one wanted it - not even me after I saw it. Way too many ticks & mosquitoes.

Others got foreclosed on by the banks that held the mortgage.

On the other hand, my other grandparents managed to buy a small farm in Oregon near the end of the depression. I'm not sure how they managed that - they were dirt poor most of the time.